She'a Always A Woman
by Agent Mai
Summary: 1xR Heero's once again at the back of the auditorium watching... Review Please!


I own Gundam Wing. Yup, u know the owner/creator? Yup, yer lookin at 'er. **blinks repeatedly. Oh, that was a dream?** Damn. Ok, so I don't own Gundam Wing. Inspired by "She always a woman", by Billy Joel  
  
If you can catch any OOCness in it, sure, there's OOC.  
  
  
  
Hi, people. I'm moving right along here with my fic. So much for college time-management.  
  
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Pairing: 1xR  
  
Type: Songfic  
  
POV: Heero  
  
Rating: I'm really not sure, but I'm guessing pg-13.  
  
And also: Thoughts [Lyrics]  
  
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She's Always A Woman  
  
By Agent Mai  
  
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Ever since I could remember, the back of the crowd was always the place where I belonged. Not because I was behind everyone else, not because I deserved less. The back of the crowd was my comfort zone. If nobody sees you, and nobody knows you're there, they can't interfere with your intentions. My intentions were to watch Relena.  
  
So there I was, in the usual position at the back of the auditorium, behind the last row of seats. I have never been used to large crowds. There was absolutely no excuse for this; for the past three years, 5 days a week, 4 weeks a month, twelve months a year, I had been attending Relena Darlian- Peacecraft's speeches, meetings, summits. You name it, if she was there, so was I.  
  
At the moment, Relena had just stepped up to the podium. After shuffling her notes, and shifting uncomfortably from one leg to the other, she looked up, and started.  
  
"I thank you, ladies and gentlemen, for your continuous support of peace. Today, we celebrate a new way of thinking: the strength of a unified world. I know it has been a difficult task sometimes. The fact that you have kept true to your beliefs shows your strength as individuals and as a community of people..."  
  
I noticed in disgust how fragile and grey she looked. What the hell were they feeding her? Bread and water? Her hands were practically shaking as she flipped through her notes. It was done as casually as one could get considering the strain the action put on her fingers. Not casually enough for me. It was my job to make sure she survived through this, whether she knew I was there or not.  
  
Then, the world stopped as she looked up from her papers, scanned the crowd, and locked eyes with my own.  
  
[She can kill with a smile, she can wound with her eyes,]  
  
And my world lit up, for a moment, when she smiled. Two seconds before I smothered it with my pillow of rationality. Damn those eyes and the way they sparkle in anticipation, as they scan the crowd. Damn their blueness and the way they squint slightly when focusing on the back row seats. Damn those eyes that widen innocently as they notice me, and the way they lower in defeat as I look away.  
  
Her speech was almost over. It was safe to say she would try to catch up to me. Better leave while I could. Already, Relena had managed to end her speech and was making her way to the stage exit.  
  
I was there, on the home stretch, half a block from where my battered car was blocked, when her piercing call sounded alarms in my head.  
  
"Heero!" Great. Now you've gone and ruined it all. This'll jeopardize the mission.  
  
"Relena..." I turned and watched as she sprinted toward me. By the time she neared, I could tell she had strained herself.  
  
"Heero, aren't you going to stay? The others are here, you know."  
  
"Hn. How's life treating you?" Was all I could reply. Stupid idiot. She smiled, but through the bright cover, I could see disappointment, pain, and something new.  
  
[She can ruin your faith with her casual lies,]  
  
"I've been good"  
  
[And she only reveals what she wants you to see.]  
  
I saw right through it.  
  
[She hides like a child but she's always a woman to me.]  
  
Then, as if struck by a thought, a bit of inspiration, she once again lit up. "Why don't you join us? Everyone's missed you so. I've missed you. Please."  
  
I knew I was bound to slip up if I stayed around her long enough. It was like walking on the pure ice that formed around an ice princess. Looked so beautiful, so natural. Take one step, and you're doomed to a lifetime of trying to recover from your fall.  
  
But being who I was, I didn't think about the physical properties of ice. All I thought about was how it reflected; a reflection of my thoughts and feelings. So I took the step. And I slipped.  
  
"Alright."  
  
  
  
[She can lead you to love, she can take you or leave you,]  
  
"Come, they've been expecting you to be here."  
  
So we walked what suddenly seemed like miles down that half block, into her waiting limo.  
  
The drive was relatively short. Damn, though, it was the sweetest. I don't think I had ever enjoyed silence so much. It wasn't the same as the silence inside of Zero while floating in space. It was nowhere near the silence of an empty room. It was closer to the silence of life. All I could hear was the steady rhythm of my heart, a constant humming of the engine. And Relena's breathing.  
  
It was interrupted all too soon when the limo stopped and Pagan opened the door. I got out and followed Relena in. And almost regretted it as soon as that long-tailed baka Duo leaped up and tackled me to the hard marble floor. "Oof!"  
  
  
  
"Duo, calm yourself! Heero, are you ok?"  
  
"I'm fine, I answered." Perhaps if I glared at Duo hard enough he'd melt or disappear. Or diffuse himself into the marble floor. Yeah, that'd be good. Then I could step all over him.  
  
Duo was unfazed. "Sheesh, what is wrong with you, buddy? I thought that by now you'd be in a better mood, but it seems there's still broomstick fragments stuck up your-" "Duo!"  
  
He looked at Hilde guiltily. "Alright, alright. I was just trying to crack a smile. I guess he's immune." Then he turned around and started whistling as he walked out of the room.  
  
I followed Relena to the guest room, where she explained the necessities. "...and the bathroom is through this door.." A pause. "Heero, why did you disappear?"  
  
  
  
I sat down. "I don't know."  
  
  
  
[She can ask for the truth but she'll never believe you,]  
  
A skeptical look crossed her face briefly, before her political training took control. Political training vs Mobile suit training. It wasn't going to be a pretty faceoff.  
  
  
  
It was already too late, though, for I had already stumbled, tripped over something: the soul she had bared. I fell. I was falling. Too late to turn back, I was in love.  
  
[And she'll take what you give her as long as it's free, Yeah she steals like a thief but she's always a woman to me.]  
  
  
  
She stole my heart, the little thief. I wasn't about to ask for it back though.  
  
She continued with what she was saying, "Since you've left, I've been trying to change the way I work for peace. I don't think I've ever felt so good about my job. But, I think. uhm..." She lowered her eyes. And blurted, "I think you should join the preventers."  
  
[Oh, she takes care of herself, she can wait if she wants,]  
  
"I mean, I thought you might want to have that sort of profession since, you know, you pretty much know the field-probably more so than any professional preventer-I mean, not that I don't think you're professional..."  
  
Strangely, her ranting didn't bother me. In fact, I was enjoying the way her head moved when she re-stated the same point, and the way her hair shook as she did so. I loved the flustered look she got on her face when she thought I didn't like what she was saying...  
  
[She's ahead of her time. ]  
  
"I don't know" I was being cruel. Who would say that just to see her reaction? I just wanted to see her explain to me again why I belonged here...  
  
[Oh, and she never gives out and she never gives in,  
  
She just changes her mind. ]  
  
"Never mind, Heero, maybe it isn't for the best. You should follow your own instincts. Yes, I think that would be for the best."  
  
  
  
You useless, worthless fuck. Look at what you've done...  
  
  
  
She looked as though she had been struck repeatedly. A beating to the heart.  
  
[And she'll promise you more than the Garden of Eden]  
  
"I see this is what you want. Well, I wish you the best. Of course, you're welcome to stay here as long as you like. Please, just stay long enough for everyone to see you."  
  
By now her back was turned on me. She hadn't even given me the chance to seriously respond to her proposal. Of course I would have accepted. It seemed, though, she had made up her mind on what she wanted to believe. Out she walked, out of the room and out of my sight.  
  
[Then she'll carelessly cut you and laugh while you're bleeding, But she brings out the best and the worst you can be.]  
  
Over and over again I ran the look on her face through my head. It wasn't too late, was it? On impulse, I got up and ran out to the hall. She was about to turn at the corner.  
  
"Relena!"  
  
  
  
Catching up to her, I let my personal "Great Wall Of Yuy" crumble down. "Wait. I think-I want to be part of the preventers. I could assist in security."  
  
That beautiful smile shone its way through again, and it was contagious.  
  
[Blame it all on yourself cause she's always a woman to me.]  
  
"Come on!" she said, and pulled me to a standing position. We proceeded to walk, I mean, leap down the stairs to where everyone was sitting.  
  
"Everyone, he's decided to stay. We've got another preventor on our team.."  
  
Trowa raised his eye at the announcement, and allowed himself to briefly smirk. Quatre, of course, smiled a calm, collected smile, and Wufei looked at me as though saying "You are the most predictable baka in the world and colonies."  
  
I wasn't surprised by Duo's reaction. I wasn't surprised by mine, either. I felt like pounding him into the wall when he oh-so-innocently asked why I had decided to stay. It wasn't the question itself, but the fact that he had the nerve, the disgusting nerve, to make it a point that he had let his eyes roam over my Relena. Like I said, I felt like pounding his face in.  
  
[Oh, she takes care of herself, she can wait if she wants,  
  
She's ahead of her time.]  
  
She smiled sweetly at Duo and turned to everyone. "Well, it's time for dinner. Shall we?" I had never spent so much time feeling like I was under microscopic inspection. Quatre seemed to have lost all eye- muscle movement, for he had been staring at the same spot on my forehead for the past half hour. Wufei was practicing a constant alteration between glaring at me and looking as if he felt sorry for me. Trowa appeared to have a permanent smirk fixated on his face. Duo, as usual, was ogling.  
  
Needless to say, it took forever for everyone to finish their meals.  
  
[Oh, and she never gives out and she never gives in,  
  
She just changes her mind.]  
  
I know that if I hadn't had training, I would never have heard the very small knock on the door. Getting up from the laptop, I crept up to the oak barrier and listened. Only breathing. Feeling there was no reason to be cautious, I opened it a crack. There, in dark blue sweatpants and a t- shirt, stood Relena.  
  
"Can I come in?" I said nothing, but opened the door wider and let her walk through. Then, when she was seated on the foot of my bed I closed it, and turned to regard her.  
  
It's amazing how one can look so regal in front of a crowd one minute, and so normal, quiet, innocent, even shy the next. I watched her fidget, until finally s took a breath.  
  
"I wanted to give you something."  
  
My eyebrow raised in surprise. Interesting. At that moment, she pulled out a stuffed bear, almost identical to the one I had given her more than three years ago. The fur was slightly darker than the one I remembered, and in the place of the red ribbon was a little locket.  
  
"The locket is empty. I thought I should let you put something special in it."  
  
[She is frequently kind and she's suddenly cruel,]  
  
  
  
With that, she stood up quickly and rushed toward the door. Say something you idiot.  
  
"Well, I need a picture of you." It slipped, but I didn't regret saying it. And I didn't regret the outcome of it, either. Relena turned. I wasn't really sure whether the look on her face was that of surprise or.  
  
She sniffed. "Heero, I never knew. I always wished, but I never knew."  
  
  
  
[She can do as she pleases, she's nobody's fool,]  
  
The I couldn't hold back any longer. So I closed the distance between us by taking a step. "Relena." It came out lower than I expected, barely above a whisper. "I love you. I missed you."  
  
And before I knew it, we were in each other's arms, holding on for dear life. The  
  
[She's earned her degree,  
  
And the most she will do is throw shadows at you,  
  
But she's always a woman to me.]  
  
  
  
  
  
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AN: Thanks for reading, people. :-p REVIEW, thanks! 


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